Reviews

5/23/2015 by Kevin Glide

4/23/2015 by Kevin Glide

If a spaceship of alt-rock aliens crashed to Earth circa 1985 and tried their best to pass off as humanoid pop musicians, you’d have Reptar and their sophomore LP, Lurid Glow. Imagine four incognito extraterrestrials, making melodies and beats on Yamaha DX7s, failing to conceal the extra eyes and tentacles of indie rock that come crawling out of the cracks in their facade. You would think that a band named after a Rugrats character would have a... Read More

3/8/2015 by Kevin Glide

San Diegan prog rockers CHON are gaining serious momentum. The band is two-for-two with EPs; 2013’s Newborn Sun and 2014’s Woohoo! were both well-received. Those successes helped them earn spots touring the nation with the likes of After the Burial and Animals as Leaders. Now, all at once this month, CHON is beginning a tour with Circa Survive, debuting their first LP entitled Grow on the 24th with Sumerian Records, and they just dropped a ne... Read More

3/8/2015 by Kevin Glide

Any other review you’ll read about this debut LP from Arcade Fire’s multi-instrumentalist backbone, spends a majority of its time doing what I’m sure is exactly what Will Butler wants: comparing his first solo venture to Arcade Fire and older brother/AF frontman Win Butler. “Will, your brother Win just made captain of the football team. Why can’t you be more like Win?” The reality of it is that Will Butler is his own musician, and his... Read More

3/8/2015 by Kevin Glide

Unless you were at FYF Fest, Governors Ball, or Capitol Hill Block Party, it’s been almost three years since you’ve heard anything from your favorite Brooklyn-based indietronica duo, Tanlines. This week, the gruesome twosome of singer-guitarist Eric Emm and everything-else-player Jesse Cohen dropped a deuce on us; Tanlines announced Highlights, their second LP, coming May 19th, and they’ve also shared a track from the upcoming album, titled... Read More

1/5/2015 by Kevin Glide

This week, Portland/Toronto indie art rockers The Box Tiger dropped “Fire Walk With Me,” their first single in over a year, and it’s perfect timing with the holidays rapping at our doors. No, this song isn’t one for roasting chestnuts or decorating the tree. This track is more suited as the musical score for the season’s disenchanted returns to hometowns and slo-mo airport goodbyes.
Now, just because you wouldn’t play “Fire Walk Wi... Read More

11/29/2014 by Kevin Glide

Ty Acord is at it again with “Enigma,” in his first Scouterday release in almost three months. Under the pseudonym SCOUT!, the Issues and A Memoria Brooded member continues to push his brand of metamorphic electronica to new (and groovy) limits.
“Enigma” blends the syntax of contemporary alt-R&B with the sounds of the R&B of yesteryear and then flips the script. SCOUT! builds an anachronistic Frankenstein of warm electric pianos o... Read More

8/10/2014 by Kevin Glide

Do not adjust your internets, folks. You read that correctly. These Wesleyan alums have pulled a Harper Lee, amiably calling it quits after one release. So pour one out for these homies and strap on them eargoggles, it’s time to dance along the blurry border of alt-pop and alt-rock with the Grand Cousin EP.
The five tracks that comprise the EP are thoroughly bright, twangy, and warm. Though the band labels themselves an alt-pop group, they... Read More

7/20/2014 by Kevin Glide

Remember to tilt your phone horizontally for filming…and then turn it off and put it in your pocket.
Ever since a bunch of hyphy teenages began tearing up their theater seats listening to “Rock Around the Clock” in the 1950s, concert etiquette has been an inherent and contentious part of music culture. These days, whether you’re seeing a dusty old rock god play your city’s football stadium or watching your cousin’s Van Halen tribute b... Read More

7/20/2014 by Kevin Glide

From the swaying palm trees and sunny beaches of Philadelphia comes the self-classified Nu-Hula band Vacationer with their brand new LP, Relief. Vacationer, the brainchild of The Starting Line’s Kenny Vasoli and Body Language’s Matthew Young, has cooked up an album that will inevitably find its way into your “Summer ‘14” playlist.
Relief has an earthy and organic quality that produces near-tangible feelings blue skies, green leaves, an... Read More